Intern - Photonics Design Software & Automation Engineer (PhD Level)

Keysight Technologies, Inc.•Santa Clara, CA

About The Position

Keysight is hiring a PhD-level intern to develop software and automated workflows for photonics design, simulation, optimization, and engineering studies. The role involves designing and analyzing photonic devices, subsystems, and integrated systems with RSoft and related simulation tools; building automation frameworks and agentic or semi-autonomous workflows; and integrating RSoft, CODE V, and LightTools through APIs and custom automation. The intern will support photonic device characterization and performance optimization, develop and validate numerical algorithms, explore AI-assisted or rule-based approaches, and create documented, reusable, production-quality tools. The position involves close collaboration with application engineers, photonics experts, and software development teams.

Requirements

PhD candidate in Photonics, Optics, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
Strong foundation in electromagnetics, wave optics, photonic devices, photonic integrated circuits (PICs), optical communications, and computational photonics.
Hands-on experience with photonics design and simulation tools such as RSoft, Lumerical, COMSOL, or similar platforms.
Advanced programming skills in C++ or Rust and Python.
Experience building research-grade or production-quality software tools.
Interest in automation, workflow orchestration, and engineering productivity solutions.
Familiarity with agent-based, workflow-oriented, or multi-step automation frameworks.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing photonic integrated circuits (PICs), optical communication systems, silicon photonics devices, waveguides, couplers, gratings, lasers, modulators, or related photonic technologies.
Experience with large-scale optimization problems involving photonic structures, inverse design, metasurfaces, or electromagnetic devices.
Knowledge of electromagnetic simulation methods including FDTD, BPM, RCWA, FEM, or similar techniques.
API-level integration with commercial photonics simulation tools.
Experience building software workflows connecting multiple engineering applications, including photonics, optical design, and system-level simulation environments.
Experience embedding optimization heuristics, decision logic, or AI-assisted capabilities into engineering workflows.
Familiarity with modern software development practices, including source control, code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD, and collaborative development workflows.
Demonstrated ability to translate advanced photonics research concepts into usable engineering software solutions.

Responsibilities

Design, model, and analyze photonic devices, subsystems, and integrated photonic systems using RSoft and related photonic simulation tools.
Develop software and automation frameworks for photonic design, electromagnetic simulation, optimization, and design trade studies.
Design and prototype agentic or semi-autonomous workflows that coordinate multi-step photonic simulation, optimization, and evaluation pipelines.
Integrate RSoft, CODE V, and LightTools through software APIs and custom workflow automation.
Develop cross-product workflows connecting photonics, optical system, and illumination analyses for end-to-end engineering studies.
Support photonic device characterization, design exploration, and performance optimization across multiple simulation environments.
Develop and validate numerical algorithms for optimization, workflow integration, and engineering decision support.
Explore AI-assisted or rule-based approaches to photonic design iteration, design-space exploration, and workflow coordination.
Document workflows and deliver reusable, production-quality software tools.
Collaborate with application engineers, photonics experts, and software development teams.